Data sources and freshness

Data sources and freshness

Dashboards → Data sources is the reference page behind every dashboard: a catalogue of the public NHS datasets Nexus ingests, what each one is in plain English, and how fresh it currently is.

What's listed

Around thirty published datasets power the dashboards, including:

  • GP appointment data (GPAD) and practice telephony
  • QOF achievement and prevalence
  • GP workforce
  • NHS payments to general practice
  • GP Patient Survey (GPPS)
  • CQC ratings
  • Prescribing data
  • Screening and vaccination coverage
  • Deprivation (IMD)
  • Secondary care measures (A&E, referral-to-treatment, diagnostics, ambulance response), NHS 111, mental health services, GP FFT, Pharmacy First and more

For each dataset you can see:

  • What it is — a plain-English description
  • Updates — the publication cadence (monthly, quarterly, annual…)
  • Latest data period — the period the newest figures cover
  • Last refreshed — when Nexus last ingested it
  • Status — *Up to date*, *Refresh due* or *Coming soon*

When to check it

  • A number on a dashboard looks stale or surprising — check the dataset's latest period; published NHS data often lags by weeks or months.
  • You're citing a dashboard figure in a paper or board report and need to reference the underlying source and period.

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